Breakfast Nests

This is a versatile dish that is often requested by my daughter, especially when her class has breakfast. The last time I brought them for my daughters class, my class requested them for a class reward when they saw them.

Like I said, this is a versatile dish. You can change the toppings based on what you like, switching out the meat and cheese or adding veggies such as onions, peppers, or spinach. I have also made them mini using a mini muffin tin.

How to Make Breakfast Nests

1. Heat the oven to 400F. Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, toss together the defrosted potatoes, oil, salt and pepper. Put about 1/3 of a cup of the potato mixture in each cup of a 12-cup muffin tin (about 1 heaping tbsp if using mini muffin tin). Press the mixture in the bottom and around the sides of each cup. Bake until crispy on edges and golden brown in bottom, about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit. Once cool run a knife around the outside of each nest to loosen it from the tin.

While potato nests are cooking, cook, drain and crumble bacon.

Once the nests are ready, turn the oven down to 375F. Whisk together eggs and milk. Mix in bacon and cheese, then season with salt and pepper. Add oil or butter to a pan and scramble eggs until they begin to set and small curds begin to form.

Divide egg mixture evenly between nests. (You can sprinkle a little extra cheese on top here if you love cheese like me.)Place tin back in oven (remember it's at 375F) and bake until cheese is melted and eggs are set, about 3 to 5 minutes. Use a knife to loosen once again from the tin. Lift out carefully with a fork and serve warm.

When I bring these to school, I usually pop them in the microwave on paper plates in batches of 4 or 5 for 1 to 2 minutes per plate. You could prepare them ahead of time and do this just before serving if you served them as hors d'oeuvres at a brunch.